Tag Archives: practical it project management

This is a BOLD CLAIM, I know, , , but I believe wholeheartedly this system is going to create a paradigm shift in how IT managers work. Let me explain below or go view the video I created to learn more:

A paradigm shift is needed
IT managers have three major challenges and now there is software available to attack all three.

The “BIG THREE” challenges are:

Prioritizing work

Managing projects successfully

Communication

These three challenges are the sources of what I have called the Triple Threat To IT Success for many years.

Appfluence, a Palo Alto company, released a new version of their PRIORITY MATRIX software this week that includes specially designed “IT Manager Templates” to help address these three challenges.

Having used the system for a few months I can tell you that it addresses these three major challenges very effectively.

PRIORITY MATRIX is a very powerful workflow system that places an emphasis on improving productivity and accountability. It even eliminates a considerable amount of your email.

I know what you are saying to yourself, “Right Mike, , , eliminate most of my email, , , who are you kidding?”.

It’s the same thing I thought when I first heard this statement. Well, I saw it happen first hand when I used the system in a real project. It eliminated 90% of the email I would have had with the people working on this project and we completed the project much more productively.

It’s just one of the reasons I have been so impressed with the Priority Matrix system and wanted to make IT managers aware. This is going to be a major step in my company mission of, “helping IT managers of the world achieve more success“.

How Priority Matrix works
The PRIORITY MATRIX system provides a simple interface that uses the Eisenhower Principle for Decision Making. This principle has been around since the 1940’s and is actually well known. Many use this method in their work including:

The Eisenhower Principle uses the “4 quadrant concept” where the two boxes in the top row are “important” and the two boxes in the bottom row are “not important”. The left-hand column of two boxes is “urgent” and the right column of two boxes is “not urgent”.

So you have:
Quadrant 1 – Important and Urgent
Quadrant 2 – Important but Not Urgent
Quadrant 3 – Not Important but Urgent
Quadrant 4 – Not Important and Not Urgent

You can use the 4 quadrant concept any way you wish, not just how General Eisenhower (and later 34th President of the US) used it.

Flexibility and adaptability to what you need is the “name of the game” when it comes to the PRIORITY MATRIX workflow system and how they use this 4 quadrant concept.

The 4 quadrant layout in Priority Matrix’s user interface allows you to organize and categorize tasks, projects, or virtually anything you want.

The possibilities in using the 4 quadrant methodology are virtually limitless.

The real power is behind the simple user interface
PRIORITY MATRIX uses the 4 quadrants as the main part in their approach, but there is a big difference in what I see with their implementation. They have a powerful workflow engine beneath the simple 4 quadrant user interface you see.

This engine automates many workflow things we always had to do manually, and it places an emphasis on prioritizing work and completing the work productively. You would never know this unless you worked with the system.

Here is a sample of P/M’s key features and benefits:

Organize virtually anything you want. The 4 quadrant structure is very flexible; you decide how you want to use it.

Prioritize tasks or items by assigning a due date. When you do, the system automatically tracks this and notifies you with alerts and reports.

Assign tasks to teammates. The system keeps track of this automatically so you and others of your choosing can see what is getting done and when things are coming due.

Collaborate in real time to resolve issues. This aspect improves productivity considerably and will eliminate a major part of your email. I didn’t believe this at first but it definitely does reduce email significantly.

Easily include notes, attached files, screenshots, url links and more in your communications.

The system maintains detailed documentation of all communication and notes on all tasks. This is great for documenting what actually happens for future reference. If you work in an environment where tracking work activity is important then this system is definitely worth looking into.

GANTT charts are created automatically and you can even work from the GANTT chart interface to update projects, change dates, reassign tasks, etc.

The CALENDAR interface works the same way.

Manage dozens of projects and easily see all that’s going on by project, by quadrant, by teammate and more.

Build a project from scratch or use one of the predefined project templates to get up and running quickly.

Tag projects, tasks or items so you can filter views or reports by tag. Very helpful.

The system is a great place for storing reference material and other resources.

Communication updates are automatic when people are assigned or participating in a task or project. This is a major benefit for IT managers.

Easily monitor employee workload when you define tasks with “effort required” and “start & end dates”.

I discovered PRIORITY MATRIX by accident a few months ago and now that I’m familiar with it I’m wondering, “Where have you been all my life?”

The manual To Do List system I’ve used for 30 years is obsolete with a tool like this so I’ll be using PRIORITY MATRIX from now on.

I was so impressed with the PRIORITY MATRIX system that I wanted to invest time and energy to help the company create IT Manager awareness of their system.

I created 6 IT manager templates and they are available for free to new users from the Appfluence web site. Create projects in these categories in just a few minutes, , , there will be more templates created and available soon.

IT Manager Resources
IT Manager TO DO LIST
Employee Performance Planning
IT Project Portfolio Process
IT Project Risk Analysis
IT Project Value Analysis

In an earlier post, I mentioned, “The most important part of creating IT success is being able to conduct a thorough IT assessment so you can determine what your organization needs to work on.” CLICK HERE to view.

The second most important element required for IT success is that you must become a credible organization.

“Credible”, , , what does “credible” mean?

Credibility only comes when your client trusts you can and will do what you say you will do. Simply put, it means you deliver projects successfully.

You can conduct a great IT assessment and deliver an eloquent strategy that gets lots of acceptance, , , but if you can’t deliver projects successfully, you will not have credibility. Getting credible is absolutely a requirement to become a successful IT manager at any level.

That’s why project management is so important for an IT organization.

There are three main parts to all of this:

First, you have to define and prioritize the projects. This happens during an IT assessment.

Second, you have to deliver the project, , , this is actually the project management component.

Third, you need to track your projects and demonstrate your success rate in delivering projects on time, within budget, and meeting client expectations.

All three components are very important. If you don’t identify the appropriate projects to work on and prioritize them so they help your company the quickest, clients don’t think you are focused on the right things.

Deliver a project successfully but fail to communicate your success and no one will know about it, , , so it’s important to “bookend” the project work with an appropriate assessment on the front and effective reporting on the back.

See my IT Initiatives Portfolio post and download a simple tool to help you quantify and report your project successes, , , CLICK HEREto view.

There is absolutely no excuse for failing to deliver a project successfully in today’s world. With the methodologies, tools and training in this area you would think that most IT projects are delivered successfully, , , but to our dismay they are not.

Studies show there is a high failure rate with IT projects, , , year after year.

You don’t have to have a PM certification like a PMP to deliver a project successfully, but you do need to know something about project management and it helps to have a few tools. A PM certification doesn’t say you are a successful project manager, , , it says you have knowledge about project management and passed an exam.

I’ve delivered hundreds of projects successfully with some of the simplest tools. The key is knowing what to focus on and doing a few key things that positions you to deliver your project successfully. Do these things well and success is achievable.

In a future post, I’ll give you my “Tips to project management success”.

If you are looking for project management help, I recommend you take a look at two resources:

IT Project Management: a practical approach – I wrote this book to give managers a simple and practical process in project management and it includes the tools I use myself to deliver a project successfully. It’s a quick read and gets right to the point. Learn more.

TenStep, Inc. and Tom Mochal – The company that provides the most in project management in the world is TenStep, Inc. Tom Mochal has created an international force in providing project management tools, training and consulting services. Check out www.tenstep.com.

Project management is the cornerstoneofcredibility

It is why you should focus quickly on delivering projects successfully when taking responsibility for a new IT organization. Get credible and IT success is just around the corner.